Bill Text: TX HR387 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Expressing support for full reinstatement of Project Re-Integration of Offenders.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-16 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HR387 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HR387-Introduced.html

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86R11771 BPG-D
By: Reynolds H.R. No. 387

R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Reducing recidivism is key to controlling costs in
the correctional system; and
WHEREAS, In the 1980s, Texas launched Project Re-Integration
of Offenders, better known as Project RIO, to prepare inmates to
participate in the workforce following their release; coordinated
by the Texas Workforce Commission and the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice, the initiative provided job assessment
specialists to train inmates for employment; upon release, former
prisoners received referrals to Project RIO through their parole
officers; by 1998, the program had a pool of more than 12,000
employers willing to hire former offenders; and
WHEREAS, The National Institute of Justice, a program of the
U.S. Department of Justice, praised Project RIO as one of the most
ambitious state government programs for placing parolees in jobs;
it published an extensive report citing marked improvement in the
percentage of former inmates securing employment and a significant
reduction in the percentage of high-risk parolees reincarcerated;
and
WHEREAS, Considerable hard evidence has shown that when
inmates find decent jobs soon after release, they are less likely to
resume criminal behavior, and Project RIO has played a vital role in
preparing offenders for a successful transition to life beyond
prison walls; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas
Legislature hereby express support for the full reinstatement of
Project Re-Integration of Offenders; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the chief clerk forward an official copy of
this resolution to the executive directors of the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice and of the Texas Workforce Commission.